Reverse
by SnowDragonYukiko
Summary: Hao came back and finally achieved his dream. He gave his throne to his descendants, trusting in them to hold on to and keep the Shaman Kingdom perfect... 1000 years afterwards, will he find it still what he wanted it to be?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi, this is Yukiko saying hi for the first time! I hope you guys will like this... I have a bad habit of not finishing stuff when I don't have any more motivation, so please review. o0 Watch me not get any reviews. Yay.

Enjoy!

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_You, Aomori Yasuo, chief secretary of the Shaman Kingdom, are invited to the palace of His Highest Majesty Emperor Asakura Kazuo to celebrate his twenty-fifth birthday. This is an honor not many have received and His Highest Majesty graciously allows you and your wife and children to accompany him in this grand annual celebration…_

Yasuo looked up from reading the grossly over-adorned invitation. His wife smiled at him and said, "Oh, of course we'll come, Yasuo." She patted him on the shoulder in a comforting matter.

Yasuo hadn't been worried about his wife's reaction. He was mainly worried about two of the three younger shamans in the room. Two were his son and daughter, Isamu and Miyoko, and the other was a young man named Hajime. Hajime was Yasuo's nephew, the same age as Isamu. He had no family and so out of compassion Yasuo had taken him into his own family.

Miyoko and Hajime looked away pointedly. Yasuo knew they were both preparing to refuse the proposal. Just as Hajime opened his mouth to argue, Yasuo headed him off. "I know what you're thinking, but…"

"… but your father, Miyoko – your uncle, Hajime – has a very high position in this kingdom and if we don't show up… well, not only will it offend everyone, we might be persecuted by the king. You know how he is with all those who offend him." Chiyo came to her husband's rescue.

"But what if we just stay home, uncle?" Hajime argued. "You and mother can go, and Isamu if he wants to."

"He'll notice, Miyoko. Either he or his advisors will notice, and then we'll all be in trouble." Yasuo replied patiently. Then he added, "We mustn't miss this opportunity."

"Yeah, an opportunity to suck up to that -" Miyoko muttered under her breath.

"Don't let him hear you say that," her mother warned. "Miyoko, it can't be so hard. We go through this every year. It's only once, and you won't have to do all this again until next year."

Miyoko grumbled. Her mother got up from the regal red chair that seemed like such a throne of authority and whisked her out of the room and up the stairs. A young maid materialized out of nowhere and took Chiyo's place as Miyoko's guide to her room. Once there, the maid scurried into Miyoko's roomy closet to look for something fancy to wear to the occasion. After all, it was only a few hours away.

--

A few hours away had arrived, much to Miyoko's distaste. As she sat in the carriage bringing them to the grandiose castle – cars and all things eighteenth century and beyond had been banned, with only a handful of exceptions – she still wore a face resembling thunder looming over the horizon and Yasuo wondered when the storm would break. Hajime was more refined in concealing his dissatisfaction, but the dark halo of moodiness was underscored in everybody's minds. All in all, the atmosphere wasn't too enjoyable.

The carriage stopped and Miyoko hopped out almost even before the door had opened. Back straight, she haughtily walked up the stairs to the main doors and went through without waiting for the rest of her family and escort. Yasuo sighed. "She is the most difficult girl I've ever had the misfortune to raise."

"She's the only girl you've ever had the misfortune to raise," his wife pointed out.

"I could give her away to a family of twelve princesses and they'd say the same," Yasuo grumbled.

--

The party was an immense one. All the important people came from all over the world, not wanting to offend their superior. They all understood Asakura Kazuo's moods and tempers. He was quite a pathetic person, really, but he carried so much power there wasn't room for the opinion to breathe.

"It's been like this for the last eight hundred years," Miyoko stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Hajime as they whispered to each other. "Only a generation down from the fourth reincarnation of Asakura Hao and they'd already gotten this bad with all the corruption." Hajime nodded in agreement.

Hao's third reincarnation was the one where he fought his legendary battle with Asakura Yoh and his friends. The fourth reincarnation, five hundred years after that, Hao had joined the Shaman Fight with full confidence, because beforehand he had slaughtered all the other Asakuras, his descendants. His followers numbered in the thousands and there was no question from the beginning – he would be the King of Spirits. He finally accomplished his goal of his Shamans-only world. The ones who opposed him were trampled, and so Hao reigned for the next ninety years over his kingdom peacefully. However, even the great onmyoji didn't avoid old age in the end. He told his son he would be back five hundred years later, just like all his other reincarnations.

The five hundred years went by and a wailing baby was brought into the world – and kicked back out. The Asakura father, Hao's descendant and ruler at the time, destroyed Hao with his own hands, brutally. To prevent Hao from ever gaining enough power to overthrow the corrupt Asakura dynasty, the father also sealed away Hao's spirit ally, the Spirit of Fire that had absorbed the Great Spirits but kept its own form.

Miyoko and Hajime both knew this history better than most of the other shamans living in the world. Their clan, the Aomori, was an old one, dating back a few thousand years. Not as old as the Asakuras, or as influential as they had been before Hao had took over. Miyoko's father held the position in the shamanic court that his forerunners had. The Aomoris, ever since the Asakura dynasty had been established, had served the Asakuras.

--

Asakura Kazuo sat on his throne, festooned in precious cloths and riches to gloat his prestige over all his subjects. All the officials, nobles, and important figures in the world had gathered in his palace all on his whim. He could do whatever he wanted! After all, he controlled the world. One wave of his hand and the land could be furnished with beauty or laid to waste. He had complete power.

"Announcing the twenty-fifth birthday of Asakura Kazuo, the Highest Majesty, the Emperor!" Kazuo's steward bellowed over the crowd. He glanced to either side. Good, everyone was here. The emperor's guards stood around him, always poised for action. Kazuo's younger brother stood in the throne's shadow in a deferential manner.

Kazuo's advisor leaned over. "Sir, congratulations on turning twenty five… also, don't you think it's time to look for a queen?"

Kazuo raised his eyebrow. "That was sudden."

"I'm so very sorry, sir, but don't you think it's a good idea?"

The figure in the corner behind the throne shifted, as if the idea interested him. To the form Kazuo snapped, "No, you stay out of this. I won't permit any of your cheek today."

Kazuo's younger brother was Katsu. He was only a year younger than Kazuo, and Kazuo knew hardly anything about him. Come to think of it, Kazuo reflected, I can't even recall what the maggot looks like… he's always skulking and hiding under his hood. Then again… Kazuo shrugged. It doesn't matter to me anyways.

"If I may suggest it, sir," the advisor continued boldly, "You could look at the girls present here today, I'm sure one would to be to your tastes. After all, only the most worthy shamans are here today."

"No, you may not suggest it, impertinent worm." Kazuo snarled. Then, sitting back, he cast his gaze over the crowd, doing exactly what the advisor had told him to do. He saw a few promising, good-looking females and pointed them out to the advisor, who summoned someone to gather the chosen ones up to meet Kazuo.

--

Miyoko was still talking to Hajime when the servant came over to beckon her. Irritated, she shooed the man away impatiently. "But madam," the servant groveled, "The emperor wishes for your presence."

Miyoko looked up at the shrouded man sitting higher than everyone else. "The madam wishes for her peace."

Kazuo looked at the servant cringing in front of the willful girl. Then his glare shifted to Hajime standing nearby. "She wants to talk to him, does she? Instead of me, the emperor of all?" he muttered thunderously. As the servant came back shakily, afraid the emperor would take offence at Miyoko and unleash his temper on an innocent bystander, Kazuo flicked his gaze down at him. "Go tell the guards to arrest that man next to her."

"Yes, sir!" The servant gasped and quickly bowed while leaving as quickly as he could.

The ensuing ruckus caused most of the heads in the room to snap around like rubber bands. The guards were yelling and Miyoko was venting her anger on them. "What are you doing? He has done absolutely nothing!" Only Hajime was quiet as he was dragged away, grinning sheepishly at Miyoko.

"Get back here, you wimp! Fight! Do _something_!" Miyoko yelled after him. A hand restrained her from going after her cousin and she whipped around to see it was her father.

"We're leaving," was all that he said.

--

Nothing was said on the way back. In the living room of their large house, sudden shouts alarmed the various pets who had been drowsing. Miyoko and Yasuo were having a shouting match. Chiyo was trying to calm them down, and Isamu just sat there, wondering how many people would need to take sleeping pills tonight.

"You knew perfectly well it was on the emperor's orders, yet you deliberately disobey him! Not only that, you endanger Hajime by being impertinent right under the emperor's nose!" Yasuo accused.

"Oh, what do you care, all you care about is your stupid freaking _position_ and your stupid freaking _image_!" Miyoko shot back heatedly. "The only reason you took in Hajime was because of what people would think if you didn't! You never cared about him! And he could tell!"

"Yasuo, darling, just calm dow—"

_SLAP_.

Miyoko's eyes were filled with tears. Kazuo's soldiers rammed through the door. Two grabbed each of her arms, one tied her hands behind her back. All had their Oversouls on. The family looked on in surprise, then dismay, then terror. Isamu shrieked and tried to fight the guards and get his sister back. The guards pushed him back easily. Chiyo looked thunderstruck. Yasuo…

"Mother! Father!" Miyoko shrieked. She writhed, twisted, tried to fight. More soldiers held her down and prevented her from activating her Oversoul. They hauled her to the door. Her tears were everywhere. Yasuo was ignoring the scene, abandoning her. How could he do this? Even though they had their disagreements, he was her father! He had a duty to her, to the family! Her eyes were blind with tears and rage. "Mother, please…" her voice quieted. Chiyo shuddered and looked away, looked at her son on the ground.

As Miyoko was taken farther away from the doorstep, she heard from the open doors, the low words: "It's for the better." Then, a wail, and a thump, as if her mother had flung herself on the ground. Nothing more.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I am sooo lazy... .> -puts hands together above her head- I'm sorry!

Although, the review from kasai tenshi helped... a lot... thanks!

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Miyoko slumped against a chilly, uneven stone wall. Her head was on her knees, her hands still tied behind her as her body trembled from the suppressed grief. She had been forgotten, thrown away. For the better. For the greater good.

I hate him. Asakura Kazuo. I hate him, I hate him, I _hate_ him, _I hate him, ihatehim, ihatehim, ihatehim… It's his fault…_

_Miyoko…_ the familiar tinkling voice of Miyoko's spirit echoed in her mind. She could detect the worry in it. Amaya, don't worry, I'll be fine… soon…

--

Her family gathered in a field full of flowers, and flower petals flew everywhere. It was as if her family was the center statue of a snow globe that, instead of snow, was filled with pink and yellow and red petals. Laughing and talking, they joked around as if nothing was wrong. "What about everything that's happening? How could you forget? What are you doing?" Miyoko wanted to ask. She couldn't. Imperceptibly at first, the sky darkened, then it was as sudden as if a tornado hit. Searing flames wrapped around the once peaceful scene. Miyoko stood at the edge of the meadow in shock. Then she tried to scream, but for some reason she couldn't manage to pry her jaws open. Why? What was wrong? The flames flew, reaching towards heaven. Miyoko couldn't see her family anymore. They were blocked by the flames. "AMAYA! HELP!" she screamed, but again nothing came out. She was a statue and she couldn't move a muscle. She might as well have been dead…

"I want to die!" she yelled out at last, her voice free.

"Don't worry, you will be, soon. The emperor is going to make his judgment on you now."

Miyoko jerked awake, quaking.

A nondescript man stood over her. He grabbed her by the arm and jerked her up, forcing her to stand on her own. She tottered forward. Her legs were shaky, they wouldn't support her. The man snarled in impatience. He tugged on her arm again.

She plodded along and studied her stew of emotions. There was hurt and grief of betrayal, and confusion. Sadness and regret that she had caused her family so much pain. Also, apprehension. Her stomach felt like it had a frog bouncing around in it. She was afraid of death. Kazuo was going to execute her. Rage. She blamed everything that happened on the crooked king.

Righteous anger, that would be what got her through this. She was already this far. There was no turning back. Better to die as a martyr than a victim. She would fight. Maybe it wouldn't make any difference…

Her conviction faltered. It wouldn't be of any use. There would be hardly any witnesses, and those who saw her would be the most loyal to Kazuo. They wouldn't be turned by her arguments. They'd wholeheartedly convict her.

Besides, if she pissed him off too much her family could be in trouble, too, if Kazuo thought they had taught her those beliefs. After all, she couldn't just not love her family, even her father who had practically given her away. But don't you have every right to hate them? They must hate you, too, for getting them into such a mess. They threw you away when it was convenient for them. They're not going to come help you… They'll have completely forgotten you by now…

She couldn't stand the thought of that. A strangled sob escaped her lips. The guard took no notice. He kept on lugging her forward.

They stopped at the grand doors that led into the ballroom where everything had started. The king would be lounging inside on his throne. Miyoko imagined the door would open with a creak like a haunted house's gate would when it swung in on its own, welcoming the visitor to their doom.

The guard knocked and the door opened a crack, a guard answered. He nodded assent for entry and one of the doors opened to let them in. No grand entrance with the doors swinging open in an extravagant manner. The door opened a crack further. I guess I'm just not worth it, Miyoko thought dully.

Her footsteps seemed so quiet… Her feet left no prints on the thick rug.

A steward stepped forward and announced her name. He started listing off all of Asakura Kazuo's titles, and then rattled on for what seemed like eternity about her crime against the crown. Miyoko couldn't have taken in a word even on an ordinary day, let alone hours away from her execution.

The mumblings had finally ceased. Miyoko looked up, right into Kazuo's eyes. His face was impassive, but in her eyes she saw amusement. Anger flashed red-hot through her gut and then left, leaving her feeling slightly light-headed. She was nothing more than a toy to him, and he was going to watch her die to relive his boredom. How typical of a blatantly _human_ tyrant.

His expression flashed in a completely different direction than the detached amusement from before. He stood up, arriving in front of her in a second. She hadn't seen him move down the stairs at her. She was kneeling and he towered over her. He was dressed in black, his flinty eyes snapping with anger.

The next moment, her head was turned to the side. He had slapped her with the back of his hand, and her cheek burned from where his sharp nails had gouged them. Kazuo grabbed her hair and jerked her face back to looking at him. "A human tyrant? How dare you!" he shrieked at her, losing all the poise he had before. He shook his fist and Miyoko could've sworn she now had a bald patch on her head. Her eyes teared up involuntarily.

He can read my thoughts? she wondered.

"Yes, I can read your thoughts, you petty, ignorant fool," he spat.

"Then you know exactly how all your subjects feel about you," Miyoko tossed out with the attitude of someone who has nothing to lose. Then, realizing what she said, she shrank back, ready for the reaction.

Kazuo was apoplectic with rage. He bared his teeth and snarled in an inhuman way. "You… dare… lowly… insult… me…" Apparently, he was beyond coherency.

Miyoko winced. The faintest hope she had held on to that she might still be spared out of the goodness of Kazuo's heart vanished. Then things went from bad to worse.

Kazuo spun around and stalked over to the huge fireplace on the other side of the room. He drew his sword from his side and thrust it into the fire. At first Miyoko blinked, confused at his action. Then, a chill set into her bones. The realization of what he was planning to do dawned on her and all her thoughts were washed away by a wave of overwhelming terror. She watched as Kazuo stood by the fireplace for long minutes. Then he turned around and she saw his eyes. They were wild, furious, beyond reasoning. His sword was glowing red like a sunset, but this had to be the least appealing sunset she'd ever seen.

He slowly paced towards the middle of the room – towards her. At first the shaking was in her heart and mind. Then, her body started to tremble violently and, desperate, twisted this way and that, trying to escape with no hope of it. She turned her head, looking for a way out. All she saw were cold, impassive faces. They wouldn't save her. Nobody was coming to save her. Her father, her mother, her brother… No one. She broke out into a sweat – and he was in front of her. Kazuo's face was twisted into an ugly reflection of malice and hate. She couldn't breathe… she was so scared… he was going to punish her for that flippant remark… and she had hoped that she could get away with a quick death… She tried to lean backwards, away from that face of disgust, but they wouldn't let her… they closed in on her and she had to stay where she was…

Up, up, up, the arm went. Up… the sword was brought up by a strong, muscular arm, with rough hands and sharp nails that had scratched her face… the sword, glowing so malevolently… the silver near the hilt, which wasn't heated, flashed merrily… the sight of the man, huge in her eyes, about to deliver excruciation… Miyoko flinched. She couldn't help it. Why watch? It would only make it that much more painful… She could sense no more movement. He was holding the sword above her head, savoring her fear before the pain. _Swish_, the sound of the executioner's axe… falling through the air…

--

Hajime looked up as a woman entered the room. She had shoulder-length pure blonde hair, practically white, and glasses. She stood straight and looked down at him on the ground. Hajime gave her his best glare.

"Oho, daggers and bullets at me, huu?" Hajime blinked at her strange accent. "You are, yes, Hajime."

Wordlessly, she unlocked his shackles and helped him up. Hajime moved hesitatingly, unsure what her intent was. The woman pursed her lips. "Too alert you are. Maybe you don't drink or nothing, huu?" she mumbled. She lowered her eyes to search for something in her impeccable suit.

As soon as he heard what she said, Hajime panicked. He made a beeline for the door of the prison. The woman tightened her hold on his arm, easily keeping him in the same place even though he seemed much stronger than her. Fluidly, she pulled out a bottle and sprayed what smelled like perfume in his face.

Hajime coughed and tried to wave the stuff away. "Now it's better, huu?" The woman asked tenderly, putting her arm around him. Slowly, Hajime relaxed in her embrace and a dreamy expression lightened his face.

She looks like a CEO, in that dress and suit, Hajime thought vaguely. And she has such a weird accent… he giggled.

"That's right, think about fun things. Fun things are good, huu? Don't think about bad things." The woman said reassuringly.

"Yes, ma'am. Ma'am, what are bad things? So that I won't think about them," Hajime asked innocently.

The woman tweaked his nose. "Well, you shouldn't think about your sister, or cousin… or whatever…"

Dazed, Hajime looked at her. "My cousin?" his brain slogged through quicksand. "Oh… Miyoko? What's she doing?"

"Nothing, our great emperor is dealing with her. She'll be executed… by his hands, huu? You and she did bad things, didn't you, sweetie? You made the emperor all mad, didn't you, huu?"

"Yeah… Can we make up for it?" Hajime asked breathlessly.

"Of course you can, can you not, huu?" the woman stroked his hair. "Just listen to Miss Zaya, you'll be fine."

"Yes, Miss Zaya," Hajime mumbled as he closed his eyes and nodded off. For a long time the blonde woman held the sleeping boy and patted him, murmuring pleasant things.

--

Nothing. There was no feeling, except a slight tingling in Miyoko's knees that signified her having kneeled too long. What happened? I don't feel anything… did I die? Already?

"What is this?" an angry voice demanded loudly above her. Who's that? Isn't that… Kazuo? So I'm still here? Why is he angry? she wondered. Then she realized it was only dark because her eyes were squeezed tightly shut.

She opened her eyes. In front of them was an interesting scene. Kazuo's sword was hovering about a foot above her head. It would have gone further, most likely slicing off an arm or such, if a hand hadn't been holding Kazuo's sword arm. Looking to the right, she saw a figure that was slightly shorter than Kazuo gripping his arm. She couldn't see all of his face because it was shrouded by the hooded cape the man – boy? – was wearing.

"Who are you? You're not supposed to be in here!" Kazuo was on the verge of shouting for his guards when the figure pulled his arm back violently and the sword he had been holding went spinning off into a shadowed corner. In doing so, the figure's hood fell back, revealing him to the light.

Kazuo stared. "Brother? What are you doing?" He had always thought his brother a timid person, a quiet person, one who could be bullied and intimidated whenever Kazuo felt like venting on someone. He had never thought his brother would ever stand up for himself, let alone defy him openly. But this…

Katsu stood tall, unlike what Kazuo was used to, which was Katsu cringing away from him whenever Kazuo worked himself into a fury. Katsu's face was bright with anticipation and excitement, making him look like a child who had just got his allowance and was heading for the candy store. He had an impish, mischievous smile on his face that looked like it could turn sinister any minute.

"Aahhh… finally!" Katsu grinned even more broadly. "Fourteen years of pretending I was lower than you…" Kazuo had no idea what he was raving about, since Katsu didn't know how to fight and had never had a duel in his life.

"Katsu! I don't care what's come over you, get out of here now! How dare you defy me!" Kazuo roared. "I'll deal with you later!"

Katsu's smile grew dangerous. "Kazuo… you _are_ a moron, aren't you? You have no idea… First of all, I just defied you, do you think I'll go willingly up to my room? I've watched your brutality for so long… you were going to maul a perfectly nice girl with a red-hot sword because she didn't want to be rude to someone and leave them in the middle of the conversation to talk to you. Not even," he added with his eyes glinting, "for some good conversation. You've got to admit, your conversations get incredibly dull. Why? Because nothing useful is happening here." He tapped Kazuo on the head. Kazuo battered his hand away.

"I'm still king and you still have to listen to what I say!" Kazuo yelled.

Katsu studied him. "That has got to be the most childish thing I've heard from a twenty-five year old…"

Kazuo roared and charged at Katsu. Easily, Katsu jumped high, landing behind the guards holding on to Miyoko. Laughing, he shoved them hard, making them sprawl on to the ground. He grabbed Miyoko around the waist and jumped again. His jumps were more flying than hopping, and he landed twenty feet away, by a window. With one gesture Miyoko's hands were free, and she was prepared to call on Amaya, to join in the fighting, except Katsu looked at her warningly. She paused.

Kazuo was livid. His brother and his prisoner were free. They were trying to defy him and escape! It mustn't happen. He would lose his officer's regard and fear for him. He'd lose control – the Kingdom! he thought with dismay.

"DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE, YOU WORTHLESS PIECES OF SHIT!" he bawled at his soldiers in the room. His advisor rushed over, his turban signifying his position of power in the emperor's court askew.

"Sir!" the advisor gasped. "Your spirit! Summon it! Nobody can stand up to it!"

Kazuo paused. Of course. His spirit. Why didn't he think of that? After all, he couldn't rely on his soldiers – they were too useless. Then he remembered he didn't have time to think about it.

"ARTAXERXES! GET OUT HERE NOW! I NEED YOU!" Kazuo howled at the ceiling.

Katsu's countenance changed. He didn't look worried, exactly, but the grin was gone. He turned. "Hey, we have to go. I'm not strong enough to fight that thing yet." He nodded towards the air behind Kazuo, which was shimmering as the specter materialized.

"How?" Miyoko gasped crazily. She was still hyperventilating from how close she had been to dying.

Katsu groaned at the fact Miyoko wasn't going to be of any help. "Just c'mere…" he muttered. Miyoko hurriedly edged closer to him. Suddenly, he grabbed her tightly around the waist and hurled them both backwards. Miyoko almost screamed, except there was no time to. Blackness cut around her vision, and everything was blank.

Smashing through a window, Katsu freefell the sixty feet down to the ground, yet landed as gently as a cat. Ignoring Kazuo screaming gibberish at the guards, he bounded off towards the wall. The archers patrolling it shot at him, but he ran on determinedly, carrying Miyoko slung over one shoulder. He ducked and dodged, twisted and bobbed. He was at the wall. He hurtled up over the heads of the surprised archers and raced off on the other side. A storm of arrows flew at him, and he was brushed by one on the side. His pace slacked for a moment, then carried on, stronger than ever. Spying cover in the shape of trees, he made it in. The last the archers on the walls saw of him was his shadow sinking into the gloom.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Yay, new chapter! Thank you reviewers... Just so you know, though, the gaps between the submissions isn't because of writer's block or anything. It's just the days on end that I happen to not write... at all...

* * *

_Miyokooooooooooooooooooo… Miiiiiyooooookooooooooo…_

"OW!" Miyoko shot up. "Amaya, you jerk!"

_What? I didn't do anything!_ came the wounded reply.

Miyoko put a hand to her side, where she had been poked hard enough to bruise – or so she thought – and looked around, trying to grasp her bearings. For a moment it didn't work, her head spun and her vision clouded up with black spots. It felt like her brain had been stuffed into a skull one size too small.

"Grhng…" she muttered. The spots in front of her eyes finally faded, as well as her headache, and she looked around. It was quite dark, so she assumed she hadn't been out of it very long. "Amaya, did you see what happened after I… um…"

'_Swooned'?_ Amaya finished in a bored tone.

"Sure, let's go with that."

_Katsu carried you into the forest to this place._

"Way to be lazy. It might be nice if the explanation were a bit more detailed?"

_Lazy? Says the girl who fainted before we even left the palace._

"Hey, that wasn't on purpose. We were falling out of, what, the fiftieth story?" Miyoko responded defensively.

_Sixth._

"Same dif." Miyoko got up. She had been lying on a blanket on an ice-cold stretch of polished stone floor. She checked her arms and legs. Everywhere that hurt could be accounted for as small scratches from the shattered glass or the brush in the forest. What had woken her had was a throbbing welt on her side. She brushed a couple of leaves out of her hair and stretched. "How long has it been?"

_I don't know._

"Guestimate?" Miyoko pleaded.

…_half an hour? Maybe more._

Miyoko sighed. It had been a long night. So many things had happened. If she didn't know better, she would have insisted that time had been slowed down to accommodate all the events that had happened tonight.

"I can't see anything. Can you go look for something, a lamp, wood…" Miyoko trailed off.

_If you can't see anything, why should I be able to?_

"Because… you're a spirit and you have better eyes than I do?"

_Sure,_ The amused voice disappeared as her spirit ventured off.

Since there was nothing else for her to do, Miyoko laid back down on the blanket. She took a long, deep breath to try to ease the pressure in her chest, but it only helped for a fraction of a moment. She was so tired, but she had been so close to death that there was no way her mind would shut down. Even thinking about it now, Miyoko's heart quickened and her breath rattled in her lungs. Stomping down on the thought, she closed her eyes and swept it into a cobwebby corner of her brain. If she was lucky, she'd never think about it again. If not, better later than now. Now was a bad time – her body had gone through a lot of action in a short time and it wouldn't willingly rest. Instead of contemplating deep thoughts about life brought to the surface by her brush with death, she would consider what to do next.

She hoped Katsu hadn't abandoned her after dropping her off here; she didn't have any skills in the woods and would either starve, eat something poisonous, or be eaten by some ferocious bear. She flopped over on her side and looked around hopefully, but nobody was around. She shrugged. She hadn't expected anything more. Well, for now, she would just wait for morning to come, find out where she was, and then decide.

She had thought she wouldn't be able to go to sleep, but she did.

--

Amaya returned to find Miyoko sleeping like a rock. She settled on the other side of the exhausted girl.

They were in a church. Actually, it was a cathedral complex complete with stained glass windows and rows of benches. To the sides, behind the podium, were doors leading underground. It was a labyrinth of tunnels and if Amaya hadn't been able to pass through walls, she would have gotten utterly and ridiculously lost. Everything was stone. Even the benches were long pieces of slate carved into the semblance of a seat. The stained glass was extremely intricate, with hues of red, blue, green, and everything in between. It portrayed an ancient style of art and showed the workmanship of many centuries ago, possibly even millennia.

Amaya had noticed some interesting things, however. The floors past the doors weren't at all dusty. The doors had no cobwebs on them, except for some dangling strings on the edge – as if the webs had sealed the door, and the seal had been broken. Obviously, the venerable cathedral hadn't been abandoned for long. Amaya speculated that they were in league with the Asakura prince Katsu, and that was the reason he had brought them here. After he had dumped Miyoko on the blanket, he had returned outside. Amaya hadn't wanted to leave Miyoko, defenseless, so she stayed instead of trailing Katsu.

--

Katsu returned the next morning to find Miyoko watching the sunrise filter in through the stained glass windows. The red sky outside caused strange colors to appear in the cathedral, and made it extremely appealing to observe. When Katsu first walked in through the large wooden double doors into the spacious cathedral he stopped to watch the play on lights inside the room.

Miyoko looked up at the brown-haired man peacefully observing the spectacle and looked closely at the younger brother of Asakura Kazuo. The man was a enigma, nobody knew much about him at all. But not a man, Miyoko realized, a boy. He couldn't even be in his twenties. Even though her father frequented the halls of the Asakura castle, he didn't know or see much of Katsu. Even his birth hadn't been announced properly, if Miyoko remembered correctly; it was only through the gossiping of the servants that anybody even knew about the prince.

Katsu turned and grinned at her. He hopped over to where she was kneeling on the blanket and sat down. "Soo… how's life been treating ya?"

Miyoko gaped for a second, put off by the informal greeting.

_I don't suppose you want the whole royalty treatment, _your Highness replied Amaya drily, putting sarcastic emphasis on "your Highness".

"No, you can just call me the Mighty and Idolized Sir Asakura Katsu." Katsu laughed.

"This–" Katsu turned to look at her. Miyoko swallowed, suddenly nervous. She didn't even know who he was, and she was letting down her guard already?

"This – weather is nice…" she finished stupidly.

"Yup, it sure is!" the tone was so cheerful that for the second time in about a minute Miyoko was at a loss for words. Katsu laughed at her clueless expression. "I know what you're thinking. I don't know this guy, he could be an assassin sent by Kazuo, or even a loony who just wanted to kidnap me for kicks."

"Loony?" the word brought back her ability to make coherent sounds.

"What?" asked Katsu, curious at her tone.

"That's sort of… a strange word to use…" Amaya suddenly chuckled, and both of them turned to look at her.

_Now I remember. I haven't heard that word used since… Oh, a good few centuries ago. Ever since –_

"Ever since the book burning four hundred and twenty one years ago?" Katsu seemed to have realized something. "I see…" he seemed to muse for a second, then Miyoko cleared her throat. "Yeah, sorry," he went on briskly. "I'm sure you have a barrel full of questions to ask, so why not knock a few off the list now?"

"Oh… uh… I – What is this place?" Miyoko blurted out. It hadn't been the question she had wanted to ask, but for some reason she was hesitant to ask it.

"This is a cathedral." Katsu replied carelessly. "Oh, you already figured that out. Right. This is a Catholic cathedral built around 2350 or so. At a time where technological advancements and electronic innovations were the trend, this cathedral was extremely out of place." At Miyoko's blank look, he sighed. "Catholicism was an old religion. 2350 was before Asakura Hao took over and eradicated all things human, so technology was all over the place. This cathedral was built for hermits who didn't like the outside world. I can't _believe_ you don't know all this."

"I did know about before the Shaman Kingdom and stuff, I just didn't know why it was built!" Miyoko argued.

"Okay, sure."

"What about the tunnels back there?"

"What tunnels?"

"The whole system of tunnels behind those two doors." Miyoko pointed.

Katsu looked at Amaya. "You guys went exploring?"

_Just me._ Was it just Miyoko, or did her spirit sound a little smug? "So why is there a whole labyrinth in there?"

"Eh… the monks were schizo."

Miyoko snorted. "What, afraid the Inquisition was going to get them?"

"Pretty much." Kazuo replied lightly. When Miyoko looked at him incredulously, he defended himself. "It's true! I should know."

"How would you?" her suspicious mask was back in place.

"I… am a scholar?" Miyoko raised her eyebrows at his hesitating voice.

"How much to bet that's not all he is?" Miyoko turned to Amaya conversationally. Katsu suddenly seemed much less at ease than before. Miyoko's question had come out. Originally, she would have preferred to grab him by the shoulders and shake him within an inch of his life demanding to know who the hell he was, but as long as he answered she would be satisfied.

"You want to know who I am?" Miyoko nodded vigorously. "I really don't think I should tell you. After all, I still don't know who _you_ are. You could be a spy, you know."

Miyoko groaned. "You _know_ who I am. I've come to the castle plenty of times for you to recognize me."

"Yes, that's true, isn't it?" he was stalling, making small talk.

"With that said, who _are_ you?"

"What a one-track mind you have."

"_Answer the damn question!_"

"No."

"No?"

"Yeah."

"Wait, what?"

"I'm agreeing with your question, you were confirming whether I said no or not, and that is what I said, so yes."

"I _really_ want to punch you right now."

"It's okay. Lots of people do," he said in an obnoxiously cheerful tone.

"Fine, then!"

"Fine what?"

"Fine, I'm leaving!"

_You are?_

"Amaya, go sit in the corner and shut up!" With a noise that sounded hardly like a raspberry, but was, Amaya zoomed off. Miyoko stood up in a huff, intending to storm out the doors. Before she could, Katsu twisted up onto his feet like a cat and blocked her way. He folded his arms and sighed.

"Okay, you win. A little. I'll tell you some, but not all of it," the voice was resigned.

"Why not?" Miyoko calmed down a little.

"I don't trust you, and you don't trust me." There was a pause.

"… fair enough." She sat back down. "So you'll tell me now?"

"Yes."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Okay, yeah, about four weeks or more of nothing. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

I was off at camp. At a _creative writing_ camp. Happy? It'll make this story better.

Supposedly.

* * *

"Who are you?" Miyoko asked. 

"What kind of question is that?"

"Who are you?" she repeated.

"I'm, uh, Katsu. You didn't know that?" He looked uncomfortable.

"You're not just Katsu. I don't want a name. I want an _identity_," Miyoko pressed. Katsu sighed.

"Katsu is one of my names. I'm also known by other names,"

"Is Katsu an alias or your real name?"

"Alias."

"I don't think your going to tell me your real name," said Miyoko. She wasn't asking, just saying.

"That is correct."

"Why are you being so formal?"

"Just because."

"…"

"So, what do you do? I mean, it seems like you're up to something, and getting away from Kazuo's palace… To me it seemed like you were setting something in motion." Miyoko said after a while.

"Maaayyybe." Katsu's voice turned playful. Miyoko pinched her clasped hands in an attempt to not lose her temper.

"Is it a resistance?" Katsu nodded and Miyoko gaped. "Are you serious. You're not serious. No way. Oh, my – how do you think you're going to pull this off? How? Kazuo has the backing of the entire _world_ against any rebellions, nothing's worked for the past thousand years, –"

"I have plans," Katsu interrupted coldly. Miyoko opened her mouth to say something, but the look on Katsu's face, so disdainful, prevented her from saying it.

Amaya was surprised. From one sentence to another, from one breath to another, the young man – boy? – could change from playfulness to condescendence. His mood swings, Amaya thought, are definitely a sign that he's not stable.

"Um," Miyoko said awkwardly to break the moody silence that had settled over them. She was afraid of asking something else that would make him angry. "How old are you?"

"I – sixteen, I think." Katsu looked surprised at the question. Silence again.

_SNAP._ Miyoko jumped, while Katsu just turned around to look out the door. Amaya hovered to get a good view, just in time to see a large tree tipping over. All three of them hurried outside to see what was causing the ruckus.

"Ah!" cried the dark boy whose body had just been pinned by the felled tree. There was a waxy, twenty-foot tall thing with scythes for limbs hovering over him. It was gray, had no eyes or any type of such features. Everything on it sagged, as if it were melting.

"Augh! What is that?" Miyoko grimaced at a pungent odor the mutation was expelling. Even Amaya wrinkled her nose.

"A mutant… something produced by nightmares," answered Katsu.

"A nightmare come to life? I've never heard of that."

"Of course you haven't, with such a rich, sheltered life you led," Katsu smirked. Miyoko glared at him.

"Well, Mr. Know-it-all, would you be as kind as to show us how to defeat the thing?"

"Me?" Katsu looked surprised. "Why should I?"

"Because it's going to eat that boy up over there if we don't help!"

"'We'? Why don't _you_ just do it?" And with that, Katsu leaned back against the cold stone wall of the church and folded his arms in a gesture that plainly said, 'Not a snowball's chance in hell I'm gonna help you'.

Miyoko flung him one disgusted look before turning to the crisis at hand. Amaya hovered over to her head.

"Ready, Amaya?"

_As I'll ever be._

"Enthusiastic as ever," Miyoko said sarcastically. She searched her pockets and everywhere on her body, then looked up. "Oh, crap."

_What?_

"I don't have my Oversoul weapon."

_EHH???_

"I'm sorry! I must have left it at home when they came and dragged me away!" Miyoko said.

_Aren't you supposed to keep it on you at all times?!_

"We weren't allowed to bring it to that stupid party, remember? Then I had no time afterwards to go get it!"

"Ahem," said Katsu from behind. He was grinning as if watching a comedy. "While you two are busy debating, the target of your aiding is currently about to die."

Both looked up and saw the boy struggling to get out from under the tree while the monster was tugging on the boy's shirt, trying to catch the boy in order to eat him.

Miyoko caught Amaya in her hand in spirit ball mode and immediately she thrust Amaya into her body.

"How old fashioned," Katsu laughed. Miyoko and Amaya turned around as one and told him to shut up. Then, they jumped up and landed on one of the monster's oily shoulders (was it a shoulder? The thing was so misshapen) only to sink up to the ankle into the monster with a mushy sound.

"Oh, disgusting," Miyoko's voice said.

The monster seemed irritated at the intrusion that it felt on its shoulder. It took a swipe at its shoulder and accidentally lopped of a tiny bit of its head when it missed. Miyoko, with difficulty, pulled her feet out and tumbled off. Thanks to her heightened abilities, she landed softly on her feet.

_Got it?_

_Yeah. I was just thinking the same thing._

They leaped to the other side of the monster and pulled off a large branch of the tree. They shoved it into the monster's side, as hard as they could. The monstrous blob quivered as they pushed it in even further. The sickle arms started slashing at the wood, but as much as it tried, it ended up slashing itself twice as much as it was dislodging the branch. It started oozing and sinking to the ground. One of the arms became dysfunctional as the shoulder that supported it was slashed right off. Miyoko jumped up, grabbed the sharp edge, and drove it into the monster's center. With a final, feeble attempt to kill its attackers, it sank to the ground and became one nasty puddle.

Miyoko stepped over and used the scythes to cut through the tree on either side of the boy, rolled the cross-section off of the boy and helped him up.

"Are you okay?" She asked solicitously as Amaya flew out to hover still next her. The boy nodded once. He had dark, bronze skin and dark brown hair, but he had golden eyes. "What's your name?" The boy shrugged. He stood up and – ran off so quickly Miyoko didn't even react. He immediately vanished from sight.

"What a waste of effort," Katsu started laughing again in the background. "I'll admit, though, that was a good idea for such a lopsided head."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miyoko growled. "Look, you didn't even help, so shut it!"

"Hm…" Katsu stopped. "Well, I think you're naïve."

"What –"

"If that were a scarred old battle veteran, would you have saved him?"

"Well, of course. But there hasn't been any battles since centuries ago, so there wouldn't be any around –"

"Oh, believe me, there still is violence in this world, and not just by Kazuo's hands. Now, what if you helped that old veteran up to his feet and suddenly his weapon is suddenly sticking out of your stomach?"

"Why would anybody do that if I just saved them?"

"If they were an assassin. Or if they wanted the bounty on your head."

"Bounty?!"

"Oh, yeah. You're an escaped convict, remember? Don't worry, though, a bounty hunter might target me first, because I definitely would have a much larger bounty on my head. You know what's funny, though? You still don't trust me, but you did something as stupid as this."

"Well, since that's the case… we're in this together, right?"

"Huh?"

"You have allies, don't you? Supporters, whatever, you know. I mean, what's down in those mazes anyways?"

"Skeletons?"

"Ske – _what?_"

"Yeah, those are catacombs."

"I thought they were escape routes?"

"They're not officially catacombs; they just hold some dead people. The monks made them so hard to navigate that they themselves got lost."

"And they _died_ there?"

"By starvation and dehydration, yeah."

"That's a horrible death to die."

"I suppose so."

"You suppose so? What kind of tone is that? I suppose you would like it if someone locked you up in a tomb and left you there to rot."

Katsu didn't reply. Miyoko saw his face darken before he turned away. Then he started walking.

"Hey, where're you going?" No answer. Miyoko trotted after him, intending to grab and shake him. She couldn't catch up enough to reach him, though. Katsu had started to practically fly on his feet. She broke into a run. Miyoko soon started panting as they went into the doors of the church into the labyrinth. Katsu turned left, then right, then left right left straight, and Miyoko could do nothing but try to keep him in sight so as to not get lost. Katsu seemed to know where he was going. She did not.

Twist and turn and turn and dip. There were even stairs going up and down, and Katsu took each fork in the road with a subconscious confidence that was the only thing that comforted Miyoko. She was tired, hungry, thirsty, and she could hardly keep up to save her life.

Amaya followed easily and Miyoko watched her flitting nearby, ahead of her. She felt frustration swell inside her. It was so easy for the both of them, because they were so imbibed with special abilities. Amaya could fly and go through walls, and she was a _spirit _and she couldn't feel tired and Katsu was just _so_ strong and so effing _buff_ he couldn't feel tired if he ran for three days without stopping and what could she do if she was just an ordinary shaman who couldn't even match up with her cousin –

She turned the corner and bashed her nose into Katsu's back. Katsu looked back at her and walked forwards, so that the frame of his body no longer blocked the entrance to a huge, centralized cavern.

_Wooooww… _Amaya murmured, and Miyoko couldn't help but agree.


End file.
